28 February 2012

* What’s going on inFinland? The Center forMichigan is engaged in a statewide round of community conversations on how to improve K-12 education. Our outreach coordinator, Courtney Thompson, tells us that in sessions so far, one nation keeps cropping up for praise: Finland. That got Courtney to wondering: What makes Finland so noteworthy. She found this piece from Smithsonian Magazine on that very subject. Read and consider:

* The Michigan Historical Residential Foreclosure Data Project has created a website to help in its work “to provide communities throughout the state of Michigan with meaningful historical residential foreclosure-related data that gives them a clear picture of the genesis of the crisis and its impact over time both at the state and county level.” The complete report is rather large, 11.3 mb, but there’s a county-by-county map showing foreclosure effects inMichiganin 2010. In time, maybe 2010 will be seen as the bottom of the housing drop — and 2012 will be seen as the beginning of the real climb back:

* Detroit is listed as one of four cities that are hipster-friendly by something called culturemap.com. The others are: Burlington, Vermont, Asheville, N.C., and Chattanooga. Bridge readers may recall that we profiled Chattanooga as a city that may be a role model for Michigan’s urban areas as they reinvent themselves. (Hat tip to Model D Magazine.)

* Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation to help ex-cons obtain identification cards — such as driver’s licenses — as part of their re-entry to society. Before you think the governor has gone soft, consider that the vast majority of felons will return to society. Do you want to help them find work and build a real life, or do you want to deny them opportunity at every corner and hope, just hope, that they don’t fall back into criminal ways?